`BLOOD KNOT` REVIVAL TENDS TO GO TOO FAR

Bailiwick Repertory is trying out a new home at the Church of Saint Luke, 1500 W. Belmont Ave., with a revival of ''The Blood Knot,'' a 1961 work by South African playwright Athol Fugard.

Both Fugard and drama have come a long way since this piece. ''The Blood Knot'' today seems too long and too self-consciously clever. The imagery is a bit heavy-handed, the absurdist slant overly superimposed and the shattering climax unjustified. But Fugard has rightly come to be known as one of the most compassionate and convincing voices ever to rage against racism, and he showed here an early knack for both language and humor.

Zachariah (Michael E. Myers) and Morris (Tim Gregory) are a pair of black brothers living out a spare, hovel existence. They are quite a pair: part Vladimir and Estragon, part Mutt and Jeff and even a little bit of Oscar and Felix. Morris, whose skin is light enough to pass for white, is fond of rules, rituals and loyalty; Zachariah is interested in whatever he can get away with.

Centering on an escapade involving a pen-pal correspondence with a white woman, Fugard has the brothers play out memories, resentments, dreams and nightmares in a meandering plot structure. Zachariah cons Morris into putting on a suit in hopes of a future meeting with their mystery woman. In fact, the suit is merely another reminder of their oppression, and instead of a prop in a real meeting, it is only a costume in the brothers` ongoing mini-drama re-enacting the white/black struggle in a deadly living room charade.

The actors are frequently on target. Myers has a soaring energy and a fluid voice, reveling in Fugard`s moody rhythms and rich emotions. Gregory plays Morris with a determined stubborness and a blunt, folk heroic single-mindedness. Together they can be both funny and tender, and their first act finale, a breathless car ride through their own imagined past, works like a small but well-honed tour de force.

But Fugard`s tricky shifts and unfocused game plan become difficult for these promising young actors to surmount. And, sadly, their well-spoken words are all too frequently lost: When they aren`t absorbed by the cavernous acoustics of the church auditorium, they`re muted by the intermittent clinks and hummings of a stentorian heater. In order to be appreciated, or for that matter properly evaluated, drama must first of all be heard.

`THE BLOOD KNOT`

A drama by Athol Fugard, directed by Ralph Flores, lighting and set design by David Zak and costumes by Marilyn Rea. A Bailiwick Repertory production that opened Nov. 19 at the Church of St. Luke, 1500 W. Belmont Ave., and plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, through Dec. 21. Length of performance, 2:30. Tickets are $5 to $10. Phone 348-6982.